


Tuff Lover

by CobaltStargazer



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F, I Thought I'd Never Hear From Them Again, Love, Romance, celebrating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 19:09:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6869842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltStargazer/pseuds/CobaltStargazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're my girl."</p><p>"Always."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tuff Lover

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been brought to you courtesy of the Wu-Tang Name Generator. Yes, really. I ran all of CM's characters through it, and for some (not so) strange reason, I liked Alex's the best. So here we are.

Erin and Alex watched the last of their guests get into their cars from the porch, the chill in the December air making it necessary for jackets even for a short stint outside. The sun had dipped below the horizon two hours ago, and faint puffs of exhaust signaled the final departure. David beeped his horn before he pulled onto the road, and Erin waved as Alex also lifted her hand in farewell. When the sound of engines faded into the deepening night, both of them let out a breath. Christmas parties were wonderful because they got to see their colleagues out of the office for a change, but the close of the night had its charms as well.

"We should probably clean up the rest of those dishes," the blonde said as they re-entered the house. "We'll have to run them through the dishwasher three times if we don't deal with it tonight."

"Let it sit," the other woman said with a shake of her head. "Tomorrow's Sunday, so we can sleep late. I want to put my feet up anyway. And you haven't opened your last present."

They'd been together - _officially_ together - for four years now, and gradually both of them had stopped worrying about what might go wrong. Initially the concern had been that losing the clandestine aspect would take some of the thrill out of it, but that had turned out not to be the case. Alex took a sabbatical from the Bureau while she wrote a second book, and Erin joined her at some of her stops on the lecture circuit. Just being together in public, the simple act of having dinner in a restaurant, was still quite enough to get the blonde's heart racing.

Tonight had been a bit of a test, though. Her son had come in for part of his Christmas vacation, taking some time away from both senior year at boarding school and visiting Paul, who lived in Baltimore now. Neal and Alex had never met before, and Erin had spent most of her time before his arrival quietly panicking. It had taken most of the evening for the two of them to find some alone time together, on the back porch while everyone retreated to the living room after dinner. Gift exchange had had to wait, because she'd wanted to gauge his reaction.

"I like her," Neal had eventually said. He was reserved - like her, like his father - and he didn't overdo it with the praise, but he nodded when he said it, a definitive gesture. "You seem so much.....happier now. That means she must be good for you. That's all I want, for you and Dad to be happy. Even if it means being apart." His sisters hadn't come, and Paul had curtly severed what little contact he and Erin had still had when she and Alex bought a house in Glover Park, but she could live with that. She had the life she wanted, with the woman she wanted it with.

"Is there any cider left? I want to turn the lights off and build the fire up a little more. We can watch the tree and unwind."

"You didn't have to buy me anything else," Erin said, busying herself in the kitchen. The mess on the kitchen table beckoned her, but she ignored it. Alex was right, they'd both been on their feet all day, so housecleaning could wait. She found a single unopened bottle of cider in the back of the refrigerator and uncapped it. They didn't keep alcohol in the house very often, though the brunette sometimes enjoyed a glass of wine at faculty gatherings. Never in front of Erin, though. She was always mindful of the hard climb out of the bottle the blonde had endured.

In the living room, Alex kicked her shoes off, dug her toes into the rug in front of the fireplace, where embers still glowed orange. "I did, actually," she said, raising her voice so she could be heard in the other room. "This is sort of an anniversary, since three years ago we got the house." After her divorce, she and James had agreed to sell the Georgetown house, the one they'd shared, and divide the proceeds. She'd cried on Erin's shoulder after signing the papers, then in his arms when the movers arrived to start packing her belongings. Out of all of it, hurting him had been the one bad spot, but he'd wished her as well as he was able. The last she'd heard, he'd returned to Doctors Without Borders and was currently assigned somewhere in Okinawa. 

Erin padded out of the kitchen, having taken off her own shoes. Alex was still working on the fire, and the blonde set down two glasses before studying the tree they'd set up. The living room was big and comfortable, and they'd spent a lot of time there while the linguist wrote and the blonde drank coffee. Once the fire was crackling mutedly, the two of them took up space on the couch, where Erin tucked herself against Alex's side. The colored lights on the tree provided backdrop for the soft orange glow coming from the fireplace.

"What did he say?" Because Alex knew the other woman had been worried, fretting over her son's reaction.

"I think he'll be okay," Erin replied, sipping at her cider. "He didn't say very much, really, but he _did > say that making me happy meant you're probably good enough."_

_Next to her, the brunette let out an amused snort. "Just probably?"_

_An arm went around her shoulders, and Erin said, "Well, he's still got enough loyalty to Paul that it might take him a few years to get used to the idea. But I've got time if you do."_

_The linguist didn't answer, instead pressing herself more firmly into the encircling arm. _For you, I have all the time there is._ _

_After a contemplative silence, Erin said, "You didn't get me something ridiculously impractical, did you?"_

_"Impractical yes, ridiculous.....I hope not," Alex said, and she reluctantly disengaged to retrieve the little box from where she'd stashed it on the mantle. They'd decided not to exchange rings, even though they'd been handfasted the year before. But this Christmas, which was another anniversary of sorts, Alex had wanted to get Erin something fitting. Her dark eyes held a trace of apprehension as she handed the box over, but her gaze was steady._

_The blonde carefully opened one end of the silvery paper, extracted the narrow box. Too big for a ring, too small for a bracelet. "Alex, what did you..."_

_"Just open it, okay? I'm almost ready to climb the walls to find out what you'll think of it."_

_Erin finally took the lid off of the parcel, and for several minutes she and Alex sat there in tableau; the blonde looking down and the brunette nearly holding her breath._

_"It's a pin," the linguist said eventually, "I decided that mistletoe is what brought us together, and so you should always have some to wear. I thought about gold, but silver seemed more fitting. The woman who made it is local, she..."_

_Alex stopped talking because Erin lifted her hand, then met her eyes. The miniature leaves caught both the firelight and the flickering lights from the tree, and her voice was just barely audible when she said, "How do you _always_ know?"_

_"It's a gift," Alex answered with a relieved smile. "You like it?"_

_"I love it. I love you more, but I love this almost as much. Can you pin it on? I wan to see how it looks."_

_Alex was delighted to oblige, and she judiciously attached the pin to Erin's casual blouse. "It'll look better on one of your work suits," she said, "Business casual works wonders for silver."_

_"It's beautiful. I can't believe you went to all that trouble."_

_Alex shrugged it off. "For the girl who broke my heart and then put it back together, nothing is ever too much trouble."_

_Erin laughed self-deprecatingly, looking down at the item adorning her blouse. She would wear it the next time she attended a Bureau function. Others might guess the truth, but no one would ever know for sure. "I'm too old to be a girl, Alex."_

_She meant it as a joke. She and Alex were always making light of their ages, as if the passing years meant nothing to them. But a very small frown line appeared between the brunette's eyebrows, and then the left one arched a fraction. Because it had struck her, all over again for the very first time, how absolutely stunning Erin really was._

_"No, you're not. You're a beautiful girl." Pause. " _My_ beautiful girl."_

_The blonde looked up, and an uncertain smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "I was kidding."_

_"I wasn't."_

_They closed the distance almost simultaneously, and the kiss was like the fire in the hearth. Warm going to hot, both comforting and tension-making. Erin opened her mouth, let out a muted contented sound when Alex put her hands on her hips. She could taste cider. This would be the best reward after a long day._

_Alex started to undress the blonde, her movements both practiced and sensual. Even during the years they'd been apart, a piece of her had remained behind. Just waiting for the rest to catch up. Erin was half-sitting, half-sprawled on the couch, blue-green eyes darkening inn enjoyment._

_"Not fair," she murmured. "You're still dressed. I want...I want to see you too."_

_The orange glow of the fire was burnishing Erin's fair skin an almost golden hue, and Alex ran her hands down her flanks before putting her hands on her shoulders. "So damn beautiful..."_

_Erin started to squirm when Alex began touching her in earnest, and it was the same and yet completely different at the same time. Even though the brunette was still fully clothed, her hands and her mouth burned familiar paths over the other woman's body. In the fireplace, a small knot of wood popped in the heat of the flames. Erin strained, trying to lift her hips high enough to get Alex's fingers where she needed them._

_"Say the words."_

_The brunette's voice was muffled because her mouth was on the underside of her lover's breast, but the words vibrated against Erin's skin, and her neck arched as she tried to look down. "Alex...please...."_

_"Not yet. Not until you tell me." A hand, two fingers and a thumb, played between the blonde's legs, but _very_ lightly, providing nowhere near enough pressure. The other woman bucked upwards, and the hand retreated. Erin whined, her muscles tense as Alex continued to deny her completion. But their eyes had locked, and the blonde licked her lips. The linguist unconsciously mirrored the motion._

_"I'm...I'm...I'm Alex's beautiful girl."_

_It was an admission and a supplication, because that was the push and the pull of it. For all that Erin had the utmost control over herself in public, when Alex was touching her like _this_ and looking at her like _that_ , there was nothing for it besides letting go. Because even if she fell, Alex would be there to catch her._

_"Always my girl."_

_Erin was as wet and as tight as ever when the brunette pushed her fingers deeper, then curved upwards. Her reward was a mewling cry, and Alex helped her ride out the climax, then the aftershocks. When it was over, the blonde sagged back against the couch, boneless and spent. The linguist eased up against her, planted a chaste kiss on her right breast, but her chest was tight with love and desire. She braced her weight on one hand, looking down into the deep blue of Erin's eyes, the color they turned when she was lazy and sated. For the moment, at least._

_"Love you." It was a whisper, and the blonde gave her a lopsided smile._

_"I'm going to _get_ you for that one."_

_Alex laughed, the sound warm with humor. "I should hope so." She sobered after a moment, nibbled at her bottom lip._

_"You're my girl."_

_The back of Erin's hand brushed her cheek, and she turned her face into the touch,. "Always."_


End file.
